


The Fading Past

by powblam



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Fluff and Angst, M/M, i guess, will add more tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 07:04:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8318437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/powblam/pseuds/powblam
Summary: A deadly disease created by Grisha is accidentally  released, creating zombie like creatures. Eren was lucky enough to not become infected, but Levi, on the other hand, not so much.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I suck at summaries. I am very sorry for the lack of summary I have given you. I may touch it up later as I write more. Anyway, this fic is based off of a crazy dream I had, and I just had to try it out with my OTP. Please let me know if you all enjoy it or not, cause if you do, I will surely write more! I just kind of wrote this in the moment, so it hasn't been read through or corrected, so sorry for any mistakes! With that, I hope you all enjoy my new piece of fiction! 
> 
> Please enjoy!

“Eren, wake up!”

 

Eren awoke with a startled gasp as a voice echoed in the small room, making him sit up to find the source. Standing over his bed was Armin, who had a frantic look on his face and his shaking hands were balled into fists by his side.

 

“Eren, we need to go, now!” Armin forced out with a trembling voice.

 

Eren was still in a haze due to waking up, and was utterly confused by the whole situation, “Why?” He asked with a yawn he tried to hold back.

 

As Armin opened his mouth to reply, a siren went off in the room, making Eren jump and Armin more frightened.

 

“There’s no time to explain right now; we must go!” Armin grabbed Eren’s arm, pulling the confused man out of his bed, “I’ll try explaining as we run!”

 

“A-armin!” Eren stuttered while being dragged out of his room, unprepared for what lied outside of his room.

 

The hallway outside of Eren’s room, which was usually a bleak grey, was now flashing red as the alarm continued to go off.

 

“The alarm?” Eren yelled over the blasting siren, “Why is it going off? Does that mean…?”

 

Armin nodded his head quickly, “Yes, the virus has been released. That’s why we need to get out of here, and fast, before we encounter any of the infected! Or worse, become infected!”

 

Eren’s eyes widened at the news given to him, “But what about my mom? And dad? He was working on the virus!”

 

Armin turned right, leading Eren into a different hallway full of people running in a panic, “I don’t know what the condition of your parents is,” Armin told Eren, “But Mikasa went after them once we found out.”

 

“We have to go save them! We can’t just leave them here!”  Eren pleaded to the blond youth.

 

“Eren, no! Do you know the danger we could be in if we do? They could be infected!” Armin argued between pants.

 

Turning right, Armin and Eren came to an open room, containing armed soldiers and civilians. The soldiers were hitting people over the heads, and screams of terror filled the room.

 

“Wha…?” Eren tried saying, but was out of breath to speak. He turned to Armin for an answer.

 

Armin’s face turned grim, “The only way to kill the infected is to hit them over the head. If infected, the person will die instantly. If not, then the person is going to be in pain.”

 

Eren couldn’t comprehend the idea, “Really? What kind of virus are we dealing with here?”

 

Just as Eren finished his sentence, a voice called the duo, “Eren?! Armin?!”

 

Armin and Eren turned to find Mikasa running over to them, with blood trickling from her head.

 

“Mikasa! What happened to you?” Armin asked in a shocked voice while grabbing a cloth from his pocket, placing it over the wound.

 

With a wince, Mikasa replied, “The soldiers knew I went to mom and dad. They had to see if I was infected.”

 

Eren looked around, searching for Grisha and Carla, “Where are mom and dad?” Eren turned his attention to Mikasa.

 

Mikasa’s head hung low, and no reply came from her.

 

“Mikasa!” Eren screamed at her, hoping to hear his parents were ok.

 

“I couldn’t save them!” Mikasa screamed back, “When I got there, they weren’t acting the same. They didn’t know who I was, or what was going on.” Mikasa rapidly explained in a powerless voice.

 

“Eren,” Mikasa’s sorrow filled eyes settled on Eren, “I had to do it. I couldn’t let them suffer, please understand.” Mikasa pleaded.

 

Eren shook his head in denial. This couldn’t be happening. His life was changing within a matter of minutes, and all he could do was stand and watch the chaos.

 

“No,” Eren cried as the news hit him; his parents were dead, infected by the very virus his father was making.

 

Armin pulled on Eren’s sleeve, “Eren, let’s go. We got to continue on, that what Grisha and Carla would want.”

 

Eren nodded his head, a silent surrender to run for now, and mourn later.

 

Armin pointed in front of the trio, “There’s an elevator on the other side of this room. It’s going to take all the non-infected people to a safe area.”

 

“Let’s go,” Mikasa ordered in a tired voice.

 

As they ran to the other side of the room, Eren watched as a father was hit over the head with the handle of a gun. He fell, and laid motionless on the ground as the soldier went for the wife and baby. A cry from the woman tore through while her baby was ripped from her hands. An infant scream echoed the walls, followed by a miserable wail from a sorrow filled woman.

 

Eren turned his head away from the heartbreaking scene, only to see many similar scenes happening all around him.

 

Bodies were sprawled out everywhere. People were fleeing the wrath of the soldiers, while others were fighting one another with a fierce anger in their movements. Terror could be felt throughout the room.

 

Getting to the elevator was like going through a maze: corpses acting like speed bumps, and people running left and right obscured the trio’s vision, and created a collision course with every step of the way.

 

“Wait!” Eren called out to Armin and Mikasa.

 

“What?” Armin questioned before he ran into a stranger.

 

“Where’s Levi?” Eren desperately wanted to know.  

 

Mikasa turned her head to Eren, “Don’t worry about him. Worry about yourself at the moment.”

 

Eren was baffled by her statement, not believing she had just said that to him, as she knew about his feelings for Levi, “How can I not worry? I don’t want to lose anyone else dear to me!”

 

Mikasa shook her head, regretting what she had just said, bringing more pain and anger to Eren when he didn’t need it at a time like this.

 

The elevator came into sight, and relief washed over Armin and Mikasa, while Eren’s eyes searched around for Levi and the others. Eren’s eyes stopped on someone, but sadly it wasn’t Levi.

 

“Hanji!” Eren ran over to her, hoping she could shed some light on where Levi was.

 

“Eren, dear, you’re ok!” Hanji rejoiced at the sight of the young man, “But, why aren’t you in the elevator? Get going!”

 

Eren stayed in his spot, “I need to know where Levi is, and if he is alright.”

 

Hanji rubbed her neck and let out a pleasant sigh, “Ah, even now you’re so determined. You are something special.”

 

“Hanji,” Eren said in a stern tone.

 

Hanji put her hands up, “Alright, alright. Levi and his squad were called to go stop any infected people from coming here. But his squad was told to pull out since the elevator will be leaving soon.”

 

On cue, Levi was approaching the group, bruises and marks apparent on his face and arms, showing he was in a fight of some sort. No one else followed him, he was alone and dazed.

 

“Levi!” Eren exclaimed at the sight, both relieved to see Levi but also concerned about the marks the shorter man was showing. He tried to move forward to meet Levi, to try and be closer to him, but was held back by Hanji.

 

When Eren turned to Hanji to protest, he saw a look of uncertainty on her face.

 

“Mikasa!” Hanji beckoned her over, “Hold Eren for me would ya?”

 

With a nod, Mikasa held onto Eren while Hanji walked ahead to talk to Levi. Small whispers were exchanged between the two before Hanji left Levi to return to Eren.

 

“Alright time to go guys, the elevator is leaving. Erwin will meet us over there.” Hanji ordered, her voice sounding somewhat remorseful.

 

“Wait,” Eren tried stopping Mikasa from pulling him away, “What about Levi?” Why isn’t he following?”

 

His questions were ignored by the group, who kept on moving forward without Levi.

“Don’t tell me,” Eren whispered in a shaky voice as the reality of the situation hit him. “No!” Screamed Eren, pulling away from Mikasa, “Levi! Hurry up! Levi!”

 

Levi looked at Eren with a distant stare, and slowly shook his head as he mouthed to Eren “I can’t.”

 

“Why?!” Eren wailed as the distance between the two grew, “Why can’t you?!”

 

Levi shook his head as a sad smile made its way onto his face, “I’m sorry, Eren.”

 

Eren struggled to get out of Mikasa’s hold, but the fight only made Hanji join in, making it impossible to escape. He still resisted, kicking his legs until he was being dragged by the duo.

 

The group made it to the elevator, and Hanji gave Erwin a quick update on the situation.

 

The blond man looked out to Levi, then to Eren, giving the broken kid a look of sympathy. Erwin flicked his right hand up, giving the signal to have the elevator doors close.

 

Eren fell to the ground, a sobbing mess as Mikasa held him, trying to comfort the confused and hurt boy.

 

“Levi!” Eren screeched as the doors slammed shut, separating Eren from the man he came to adore and idolize over time, and from the man he had fallen so hard for.

 

~~~~

 

Eren’s eyes slowly opened, and a grunt fell from his lips as he looked around at his surroundings. He was lying in a bed in a room he didn’t recognize. Panic started to settle in his gut at the unknown surroundings before Hanji entered the room, followed by Armin and Mikasa.

 

“Well, good morning sunshine!” Hanji greeted the worn out brunette.

 

Eren slowly sat up and stretched, letting out a few winces of pain before confronting Hanji, “So, what happened?” Eren asked in a cold voice as he recalled what happened before he ended up here.

 

“Where to begin,” Hanji pondered, “Well, let’s start with what happened after we entered the elevator.”

 

“Basically, you went on a rampage.” Hanji began the story, “We thought you might have received the virus, but that nice bump on your head proves otherwise. So in order to calm you down, since you were putting up a very tough fight, I put you into an induced coma.”

 

“How?” Eren blurted out, confused by her explanation.

 

Hanji gave a small wave of her hand, “With an injection, of course! How else would I do it? You know I can’t even hurt a fly!”

 

Eren gave Hanji a weird look, “Do you always carry injections with you?”

 

“That’s none of your concern. Anyway! Back to the story!”

 

“So, once you were knocked out, I ordered the soldiers who stayed up in the room to begin taking infected people alive, as test subjects. I need to find a treatment, and hopefully a cure for this, and the only way to do that is of course with test subjects.”

 

“You know I’ve assisted your father in this project, and he has told me before that if something happens to him, that I would have to take charge of the research. So now here I am, trying to save humanity from a zombie like disease!”

 

“Hold on,” Eren held his hand up, pausing Hanji, “I know my father was creating a virus like thing, but what exactly is it?”

 

Hanji took a deep breath in, “Your father created something very complex and deadly. It’s like a virus, but I’m not even sure if it can be ranked as a virus. Maybe a prion? Possibly a bio-weapon? Some sort of pathogen, but I’m calling it a virus for now until I can find out more about it.”

 

A confused look appeared on Eren’s face, “But I thought you worked with my dad on this? Shouldn’t you at least know what type it is?”

 

“You need to stop interrupting!” Hanji waved a nagging finger at Eren, “And even though I did help your dad, he was still very secretive about it, so I don’t know as much as you think I should. Now, back to my explanation.”

 

“This virus makes humans go into a zombie like state, but they aren’t actual zombies, like you would see in the movies. They don’t have white eyes, rotten skin, or a weird limp like any stereotypical zombie would have. Instead, the infected looks like a normal person would, that’s why we couldn’t tell who was infected or not in the beginning.”

 

“But one thing that I’ve learned is that the infected talk slowly, and jumble their words together, or stutter. Their memories are wiped out, so they don’t remember anything past when they turned, and they have a bad anger issue.”

 

Eren was about to ask another question, but Hanji covered his mouth, “Shush! I will explain!”

 

“What I mean by bad anger issues is that the infected will become mad by almost anything due to the lack of memory they have, and that’s how they kill: anger, frustration, rage, all that good stuff. They don’t kill to eat nor do they kill for fun, it’s out of pure anger. You probably saw a couple of people acting like that as you were making your way to the elevator.”

 

Hanji paused and re-adjusted her posture, “And here is the funny thing. The disease doesn’t spread by air. So many people were infected yesterday, but that isn’t because it’s floating around. It is actually spread by the sweat of the infected coming into contact with the blood of the non-infected.”

 

“The way this is possible is due to when the infected person becomes enraged, they begin to beat their victim, and as they continue, they also sweat. And not just a little sweat, no, by the end of the fight, they are drenched with sweat. As they are hitting their victim, the sweat comes into contact with the blood, and if the person isn’t killed, they somehow heal, and become an infected.”

 

Eren stared at Hanji with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what he had just heard.

 

Hanji swung her arms around, “Isn’t this all amazing?”

 

Eren blinked his eyes rapidly at her remark, “No, this isn’t cool! This is scary, we could be dead tomorrow! This could be the apocalypse!”

 

“And” Eren added, “How long was I out for? With how much you just told me, I had to be out for a month or so, right?”

 

Hanji laughed at the guess, “Actually, you’ve been out for about a week. I figured all of this out just by observing the infected. Which is another thing I forgot to mention.”

 

Eren rubbed his forehead as his patience was wearing thin, “What could it possibly be?”

 

“Everyone is living here in this hospital, for good. That’s an order. And a couple floors down is where the infected are also living.”

 

Eren was baffled, shooting Hanji a wide eyed expression, “What!”

 

“Well, I needed to keep a close eye on both the infected and the non-infected, so I have made a rule that everyone must live here in the hospital, or other hospitals around. But, a normal person cannot go past a certain floor level because that is where I am keeping the infected people. The bottom floors are their living space.”

 

“Also, I might add, I am now your new therapist. I have assigned either myself or someone from my team to become a therapist to everyone, including the infected.”

 

Armin decided to finally speak up and join in on the conversation, “You never did tell us, who’s the therapist for the infected?”

 

“Moblit.”

 

“How has he been handling that?” Armin wondered out loud.

 

Hanji let out a giggle, “Very good actually. So far, no problems, and the infected people actually enjoy it! Isn’t that weird?”

 

 Eren shook his head, and put his hands in the air, stopping everyone from talking, “Wait! Hold on here, you said the infected are… living… here?! How is that supposed to keep anyone safe?!” Eren exclaimed, not being able to comprehend the information he was just told.

 

Giving a small shrug, Hanji replied, “We have security guards posted at each door leading to the lower levels to prevent people from trying to go see the infected, and to keep the infected from wandering up to the non-infected. As long as no one tries anything stupid, everyone will stay safe!”

 

Eren became quiet as he came up with a thought, “Wait… Levi was one of the infected still up there. Is he still alive? Is he here?” Eren asked with a glint in his eyes as a plan began to form in his head.

 

Hanji gave a huff, “Eren, what did I just say? As long as no one tries anything STUPID,” She emphasized with a louder tone, “Then everything will be ok.” She met his gaze, giving him a hard look, “Eren, I know you all too well to know what you are thinking, and for your safety, I’m saying don’t even think about it.” She spoke, her voice low and fierce.

 

Mikasa finally made her presence known, “I’ll keep him from doing anything stupid, right Eren?” Mikasa glanced his way, showing him that she wasn’t joking around.

 

Biting his lip, Eren nodded his head, surrendering to both of their advice.

 

Clapping her hands, Hanji stood up, “Good! Alright, I have a lot of work to complete. People to talk to, patients to examine, infected to observe, the usual stuff.” She said as she turned her back to the trio. As she made her way to the door, she placed a hand on the frame and gave one last glance behind her, “I’ll be back some time later to check in on you, Eren. And remember what I said!” She called out with a wave of her hand before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

 

With Hanji gone, Eren let out a sigh, turning his attention to Armin and Mikasa, “So… I really did break down in the elevator?”

 

Armin gave a nod, making his blond bangs shake with the movement, “Yeah, you wouldn’t stop fighting against Hanji and Mikasa. You even gave Mikasa a little cut on her cheek,” Armin informed Eren as he pointed to Mikasa’s cheek, showing a visible scar. Mikasa raised her hand to hide it from Eren, but it was too late, so she slowly let her hand fall back into her lap.

 

Eren stared at the scar with wide eyes, “I did that? To you? I’m sorry Mikasa, you know I would never hurt you.” He apologized, his tone laced with guilt and concern.

 

Mikasa shook her head, “It’s fine, and I’m fine. It didn’t even hurt. I didn’t notice it until Hanji pointed it out to me.” She finished with a shrug as she turned her gaze away from Eren, trying to hide the scar from him.

 

Armin looked at the clock that was above the door, and made a small hum, “Well, lunch is about to be served. Mikasa and I will go get you some,” He said as he gave a small nudge with his hand to Mikasa’s arm, “We will be back shortly. Please get some rest while we are gone, don’t try to get up or anything,” Armin advised, “Doctors orders.”

 

Eren leaned back in the bed, giving a small grunt, “Fine, I guess. Can you at least bring me a book or something? I’m going to go mad if I just lay here.” He pleaded to the duo.

 

“Of course,” Mikasa answered as she stood up with Armin to leave, “We’ll be back soon,” She told Eren before walking out the door with Armin.

 

With the click of the door, Eren brought his hand up to scratch his head, sighing as he looked around at the room he was currently in. It was very bland, white walls surrounded him, there were only a couple of chairs to his right, and a window to his left. No television was there like in a typical hospital. ‘ _Must’ve made this room into a patient room when the breakout occurred.’_ Eren thought while his eyes wandered around.

 

Eren took a deep breath, his mind wandering to the events that happened a week ago. Seeing Levi beat up, his face expressionless, seeming drained of energy. Remembering the loss of his parents, and thinking about the torture Mikasa must be putting herself through for having to take such a task into her own hands. Everything was normal before. Granted the facility they had to live in was a little bleak, but that’s because they were living in a research bunker. A very large research bunker with military personnel.

 

Even then, everything was normal to Eren. He had a routine to live by. A place to call his own, a bed to sleep in, friends, parents, and a position in the task force. Now, all of that was gone, due to some pathogen created by his father. What could his father have created that was so deadly? And why was it being created in the first place?

 

Eren shook his head to stop his wandering thoughts. It was so much to take in at once, and very hard to comprehend. This didn’t feel like reality at all, it felt like a bad nightmare that he would soon wake up from.

 

To test this theory out, Eren pinched the skin on his forearm, right away feeling the sharp sting.

 

“Ouch, yeah, defiantly not dreaming.” He spoke out loud to himself.

 

Rubbing the sore spot on his arm, Eren’s thoughts wandered to the possibility of Levi still being alive. Hanji did say that the infected were brought here to live and to be observed. So there had to be a chance that Levi is somewhere down below, living in one of the lower levels of this hospital. Eren bit his lip as he contemplated the thought. ‘ _I just need to confirm that he is alive. If he is infected, I won’t go near him, but I have to find out.’_ Eren told himself, breaking the promise he made to Mikasa and Hanji.

 

Eren was going to the lower levels, for Levi.


End file.
